News — CraftAndCriticism
How To Tell Readers Who You Are Without Telling Them Who You Are
CraftAndCriticism Features NativeWriters OrlandoWhite UrsulaPike
When I began writing grants for nonprofits, I assumed success came from pulling at the heartstrings of a wealthy benefactor. I knew I could tell a story about striving, need, and (with your generous support) lives changed. The nonprofit I worked for helped people in East Austin to start businesses. You could call them small businesses, but the term we used was microenterprises. These businesses had only a few employees. Sometimes, it was one single person employing themselves: a mother of two who lost her job and decided to sell the cupcakes everyone asked for at birthday parties; a person...
What to Make of Isaac Asimov, Sci-Fi Giant and Dirty Old Man?
CraftAndCriticism Creepers DirtyOldMen metoo Robot
The Sensuous Dirty Old Man (1971) is credited to “Dr. A”… but “the secret is out,” admits a paperback edition, naming the author as Isaac Asimov, “undoubtedly the best writer in America” per the Mensa Bulletin. A response to a then-popular book called The Sensuous Woman, Asimov’s book instructs dirty old men on how to leer (“don’t peep at girls—STARE!”), make suggestive remarks (“What a magnificent dress… or am I merely judging by the contents?”), and fondle. The sensuous dirty old man has learned the fine art of the touch, that of making it so gentle and innocent that the...